Between the Lines
by Raeni ftw
Summary: You all know those sunset scenes aren't "best friend" material. You just have to read between the lines. Here's what /really/ happens in 358/2 Days. This is a day-for-day account of the new game, as it really occurs.


**So 358/2 Days is crawling with hidden meanings and undertones. **

If you don't think so. well.

you're crazy.

I decided to write a "between the lines" fic, going through each day with my interpretation of what happens. There will be something written for almost each of Roxas' diary entries. But I'll skip some cause i'm lazy.

**warnings; **there will be _yaoi_. there will be implied sex, if not outright lemons. there may or may not be crack pairings. ;D BY THE WAY. i don't entirely hate xion (anymore) so you don't have to worry about her being bashed

**pairings;**

akuroku will be most canon, just because. well. come on, there's a sunset scene every five minutes. HOWEVER. i _will _pair axel with everyone and their mother in some way simply because i can. look out for

axel/saix

axel/xemnas

axel/_xion _(YES, you heard it)

axel/ROXAS/xion (you know you want it)

axel/riku replica

and like there will be other pairings too most definitely but i don't feel like writing them all out. xD

* * *

**Day One**

The castle members' silence is in no way an indication their interest—because they're all curious, incredibly curious. The new member is slight, with big, baby blue eyes, soft blonde hair and a blank expression. The higher-ups can hardly contain their excitement at this new recruit, but one could never tell by looking at them. Only the slightest hint of a curve at the edge of Saix's lips gives him away.

The boy does not speak, but they are told he is called "Roxas".

**Day Eight**

The Flurry of Dancing Flames is full of questions, all of which fall on the Luna Diviner. None of the questions seem to have much relevance.

"How long is he staying where is his room can he sit next to me at dinner _how old is he?_"

Axel is awarded a mission with the new recruit, so he can get the answers himself. The redhead teaches the mute boy the basics of combat, and afterwards takes him to the clock tower. The omnipresent sunset matches the redhead and blonde's hair nicely, and the taste of sea salt makes it even better—the "icing on the cake", as Axel dubs it.

**Day Nine**

They all get chances to jab at the rookie's ego, one mission at a time. He's teamed up for missions with Larxene, then Marluxia, and so on… each full of awful things to say to the quiet new boy among their ranks. He doesn't appear to take much notice, still saying little and looking just as blank as ever.

He gets the speal about the importance of Kingdom Hearts and it makes little difference to him. He fights because he supposes he ought to, not because something's missing. He wanders through the hallways, expressionless—but his face lights up whenever he sees a certain scarlet-haired member sauntering through the halls.

**Day Fourteen **

The concept of friendship is odd and foreign to the blank boy. Devoid of memories, he doesn't even possess the bare threads of recollection that the other Nobodies have. Axel tries to explain.

"Friends laugh at stupid things together, and do stupid things together."

"Like eat ice cream?"

Axel grins, nodding. "Now you've got the idea."

**Day Seventeen**

Another new recruit joins the Organization, just as silent and personality void as Roxas was his first day. Roxas, by now, is much less quiet and much more charismatic. He sympathizes with the new girl's emptiness, but his interest is not piqued enough to talk to her.

The girl is introduced to them in the grand white conference room as 'Xion'. She looks small, standing below their high-standing ivory thrones. Roxas looks around the stark achromatic room at his fellow members. He catches Axel's eye; the redhead smirks and the blonde looks away quickly.

**Day Twenty**

The days fall into a comfortable rhythm. The Organization's prized Keybearer spends his days cutting down the Heartless population, teamed with various scowling fellow members. He ends each day on the clock tower, with Axel. His days are spent in intervals of either being with Axel, or waiting to see him.

As days pass, the space between the two when they sit, legs hanging over the side of the tower, becomes less and less. Soon their shoulders are brushing, sending a shock of warm pink to the smaller one's face with every contact.

Life isn't so bad without a heart.

**Day Twenty-Two**

Saix's orders are a mortal blow to the sarcastic ginger. Axel's eyes scan the gleaming golden eyes of the other man, frowning.

"What will I do without you?" Axel says, finally forcing a nonchalant look to his face.

"Don't pretend it's me you'll miss," the Luna Diviner spits. Bitter.

Axel pushes pass his higher-up, but not without quickly bringing his lips to the blue-haired man's elfin ear and whispering lowly.

"A bed can get cold without a little _fire_ to keep it warm." And he is gone.

Saix shudders involuntarily, suddenly regretting his choice to send The Flurry of Dancing Flames to Castle Oblivion.

**Day Twenty-Three**

Roxas' popsicle stick has "winner" written on the side, bitingly satirical in wake of the golden-haired rookie's gloomy feelings. He'd woken up before the sun had risen and, as fast as he could on tiptoes, raced to the room of his only friend. He'd quietly slipped open the door… but Axel had left already. Roxas' grip on the slim stick of wood in his hand loosened.

He didn't get to say goodbye, and he didn't get to ask why his popsicle stick said "winner".

**Day Twenty-four**

Roxas' loneliness fits well with Xion's silence, and this mission might have been uneventful, if not awkward. Except for the keyblades. They act as an unforeseen icebreaker.

The two rookies—duel Keys of Destiny—are somewhat surprised by the level of comfort they feel with one another. Few words are said, but it is not uncomfortable. Xion's first spoken word in the Organization is Roxas' name, and he isn't sure quite how to feel.

He misses Axel.

**Day Twenty-five**

They keybearers share words and ice cream, and the company is nice. They fit well, as though their friendship was ordained—_why does she seem so familiar?_ She is lonely because she is alone, and he is lonely because Axel is gone. Their friendship is impromptu and it works nicely.

The clock tower seems odd without Axel, and Roxas feels like a traitor for sharing it with Xion. _Soon, Axel will be back and all three of us can eat ice cream together…_

**Day Twenty-five, Castle Oblivion.**

Axel always got the icky jobs. And, as much as he liked to feign delinquency, he always carried out orders. Seek out the traitors. Kill the traitors. Simple enough, right? His stomach had been ill at ease since arriving at Castle Oblivion.

His encounters with the brunette key bearer (_he looks so much like Roxas!)_ are disorienting. The boy is light personified. All of the boy's feelings and actions and words are genuine to their core. It makes Axel feel erroneous, like his life is incorrect, somehow.

Axel is introduced to another boy, one who _belongs_ to the Organization but doesn't _belong_. A replica, a pawn in this terrible and magnificent chess game the higher-ups have set up. His hair is silver and his eyes are aqua and he is just as blank as Xion—but there is an edge to him that Xion does not have.

The Riku Replica takes a liking to the redhead, following him everywhere. He doesn't speak, but his eyes seem like they're trying to say something. Axel tolerates the kid on a whim, hoping to reap the benefits later.

_Maybe I can keep my hands as clean as possible. _

**Day26. How long?**

The castle is abuzz with rumors and Roxas' head is spinning.

_Someone at Castle Oblivion has been terminated._

_Someone at Castle Oblivion has been terminated and it could be Axel._

_Someone at Castle Oblivion…_

**Day Twenty-eight, Castle Oblivion.**

The key bearer is making his way through the Castle and Axel is making himself comfortable. At this rate, the little brat will take everyone down, and Axel will have no need to bloodstain his pretty hands. While he waits, he stays with the Replica. The higher-ups failed to deign it necessary to provide Axel with a room, or even a bed, in this miserable establishment. The Replica's bed is warm and he is willing, so why not?

**Day50. Xion's Seashells**

Roxas awoke with no recollection of ever falling asleep.

"How long was I out?" Roxas inquired of the Melodious Nocturne.

"Twenty five days, give or take." Turns out, Demyx had not been kidding.

Roxas' account of the days spent unconscious was a haze of strange dreams—borrowed memories and unknown faces. A brunette boy in a white room, a girl with a familiar face. The beach. _I knew I'd find you snoozing down here. _Roxas' dreams confused him, and so did the line of seashells on his bed.

A trip to the clock tower for ice cream with Xion explained the seashells. She visited the beach every day and picked up a shell for each day of his absence. Put your ear to the shell, Roxas, do you hear the sea?

**Day51. Annihilated**

_Nobodies can't feel._

But what was this burning in the blonde keybearer's chest?

_"Everyone in Castle Oblivion is gone._

_Everyone is dead._

_Axel is dead."_

The clock tower is now a sinister place. The sunset is now a murky twilight. Ice cream is bitter poison.

Roxas' pillow is soaked, but _oh_—Nobodies don't cry.

**Day52. Ice Cream Alone**

He visits the clock tower out of habit, really. Maybe he's trying to relive something,_ feel_ something, but mostly it's out of habit.

No one comes. Not Axel, not Xion.

He is alone with the images that keep flashing through his head. That same brunette boy, wielding the keyblade. Roxas feels crazy—_can you go mad from missing someone? _The Station Tower is a long way up and for a second the idea of jumping strikes him. The thought passes but the feeling stays.

**Day Fifty-Five**

There is a gentle tapping at the Superior's door late at night. The commanding voice booms "_Come in._"

The Luna Diviner obliges.

Such it has been every night since news of the Dancing Flame's death. Xemnas' hands are cold, _so different from Axel's, _and when Saix strips his clothes he's trying to strip his guilt.

**Day Sixty-Four**

"You're like a sad puppy, dude, you gotta lighten up."

Roxas has eyes like a doe and Demyx' smile has only the slightest measure of empathy. He tends to keep a safe amount of apathy, saving his passion for important things (like sleeping and eating). He'd tried to remain neutral towards the sorry-faced young blonde, but enough is enough.

"How am I like a puppy…?"

"Oh, shut up."

Without warning or hint of thought, Demyx seizes the teenager's coat collar and pushes him into the wall behind him. The Melodious Nocturne shoves his lips against that of the confused boy. The kiss is deep with confusion and lust and is over before Roxas knows what's going on.

Demyx grins.

"Hey, you know where my room is, right?" he asks, before portaling off and leaving Roxas slumped against the wall, licking his lips and sorting through his jumbled thoughts.


End file.
